Close your eyes
by NoOrdinaryLines
Summary: Make choices face the consequences...Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no answers...Cold hand, warm heart!
1. TEASER

**A/N I hope you guys enjoy the torture I'm about to bring upon you as you read this EXTREMELY short teaser. Will there be more? I hope so! The question however should be when...? Feel free to forward all your hate mails to Grey_Mind she will be expecting them LOL ok so here it goes...ENJOY!**

**DISCLAIMER: NOT MINE**

Teaser

It was a cold night and the world was still asleep in its delusional state. It's been quite some time since I've been able to do the same. It's been 10 years and I can still envision the scene before me, all that blood…Feels like it was just yesterday. The nightmares are still fresh and some nights more intense then others. Sometimes I close my eyes and I still see…my mother on the ground, covered in her own blood, stabbed dozens of times. It was at that moment that I decided to become a cop. It was that crime that inspired me to be who I am today. My name is Katherine Beckett and this is my life…

I look at the clock next to me and it reads 3:21am. How is it that I can never get a good night sleep? My phone rings and instinct takes over. "Beckett" I answer. Esposito is on the other line there's been a murder. As if on impulse I begin to call Castle but then I realize the time and decide to let him get his beauty sleep. The urgency in Esposito's voice and the fact he didn't mention the crime itself brought chills down my spine. This can only mean one thing; this was going to be a hell of a case!

Being a cop, death always seems to be knocking on my door. The danger and the risks come with the territory and a lot of times whether we choose to admit it or not we are left unprotected, unshielded, vulnerable and exposed.


	2. DEAD AND GONE

**I would like to begin by giving 3 shout outs!!!!**

**Thank you to Phalanges and Enigmatic!!!!**

**Thank You to all you Legends who have inspired me to write my own story. (I said this before and i must repeat it. I am in no way, shape, or form a writer; keep that in mind)**

**Last but NOT least Thank You Mate (25SHA) for motivating me and challenging me daily. **

**I welcome reviews with open arms but i am by no means demanding them. Feel free to complement or criticize my work, i look forward to hearing your thoughts...Thank You!**

**ENJOY!**

DEAD AND GONE

On the phone Esposito said the body was found in a cemetery. The second I step out of the car, I feel the impact of the cold and it brings chills down my spine. I can see Lanie from afar and as I start to walk towards the crime scene Ryan meets me half way.

"Young boy found by graveyard worker; we have no ID."

Now I know why Esposito didn't give me specifics over the phone.

"What was the graveyard worker doing here at this hour?"

"He said lately there's been some grave digging and he wanted to catch the person in the act so he's been coming out at odd hours and playing detective. If you ask me the guy has some serious issues."

"Make sure to question him and see if you can find out exactly what those issues are."

"Esposito is already on it."

"Good!"

I start to walk towards Lanie once again. Being at a cemetery at this hour makes me uneasy. Once I reach her I look down at the body. It's been laid out in the fetal position. He's got blond curly hair and the face of an angel. _How can someone kill an angel?_I take a deep breath. I can feel the wind howling and for a moment I can hear this child's silent cries.

"Any sign of sexual assault?" I ask as I focus on the body before me.

"None, looks like cause of death was strangulation but I won't know more until I get the body over to the morgue."

_Thank God. _The last thing this case needs is to go and search through all the pedophiles in the neighborhood; although, that will probably be a good start. _I need coffee…_

I look over to Esposito who's done questioning the graveyard worker. I leave Lanie with the body and start to walk towards him when something catches my eyes. There's a watch on the ground. I pick it up with my gloves and brush off some of the dirt checking for an inscription of some kind as Esposito approaches me.

"What's that?"

"Looks like a watch…"

"Well the graveyard worker is already wearing one, so it's not his."

Something about this watch catches my attention. Ryan approaches me and I just can't seem to look away. Unlike a woman's watch this one is rigid, less round and not as delicate.

"What have you guys found? Cool watch, you think it's related to the case or could it be that the graveyard worker was telling the truth and people are coming in late at night to steal from dead bodies? Cause that's kind of creepy man…"

I quickly interrupt him before he's able to finish his thoughts. "Just bag it and get it to the lab for analysis. We won't know if it's important or not until we check."

"No problem! By the way where's Castle?"

"Yeah, he loves cemeteries."

"I didn't want to disturb his beauty sleep."

Castle comes bouncing into the station, clutching a box of donuts with a smile smeared on his face; he is completely unaware of what happened last night. He has no idea that an innocent 10 year old boy was found strangled. He has no idea that we have yet to find the parents and the identity of this child. For a split second I envy him. I envy him for not knowing, for not seeing what I saw. Sometimes I wonder why it is that I'm still doing this and then I realize…closure. It's something we all need and very few end up getting. He walks towards me with that silly grin on his face, and I can almost smile back, but before the smile finds my lips, the image of the dead child flashes in my mind and I am drawn back to reality.

"Why is it that whenever I walk in the room you feel the need to give me that look? If I didn't know any better detective, I'd think you weren't glad to see me, but we both know that's not true, now is it?"

He gives me that signature smile of his as he sits in his usual spot. A smirk comes out before I realize its there.

"You just seem to know so much, don't you? Well, Mr. Know-it-all, we have a new case. Bet you didn't know that, did you?"

"There's a new case? What? When?"

"Castle!" I try to interrupt.

"Why didn't you call me? What's it about?"

"Castle!" I try one more time. This time he shuts up and looks at me. "It was 3am. I didn't want to disturb your beauty sleep; after all, I'm sure you got home rather late last night."

"What makes you say I got home late? I barely went out…well I did go out to dinner with Paula, but that was rather quick. We just needed to discuss a few things and…wait, you thought I had a date?"

_Oh shit! Nice job Kate, now he's definitely never going to leave you alone and will probably get the wrong idea._

"Am I sensing a little jealousy there, Detective?"

"No, Castle, I'm not jealous. Why would I be jealous, I don't care who you go out with!"

"Oh yes, you do care, and you are jealous; admit it. Don't worry, Kate…" He leans in and I can feel his breath on me as he says, "There's only one person I'm interested in dating and last I checked it was not Paula. "

I quickly snap out of the trance.

"Like I said before Castle, I don't care who you date."

I need a moment to myself so I get up and begin to walk towards the break room for my third cup of coffee since this morning.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night Detective..."

I can hear him and the louder he gets, the quicker I walk away.

I finish making my espresso and as soon as I turn around guess who's in the doorway staring at me? Castle. _He doesn't give up, does he?_

"So, what's this new case about? You have yet to tell me about it, any details?"

I take a seat and before I'm able to formulate a thought, he pulls out the chair next to me. _How do I even begin to explain this?_

"Young boy was found dead in the cemetery by the graveyard worker at 3am last night." I take a sip from my coffee before I continue. "We have yet to identify him."

"Where do we start? Did you interrogate the graveyard worker yet? I mean what was he doing there at 3am anyways? That's just creepy…"

Ryan pops his head inside the break room but once he realizes Castle is inside, he approaches the table.

"Hey there princess, did you enjoy your beauty sleep?"

"haha very funny. I'll have you know that the reason Beckett didn't call me was actually because she was…"

I cut him off him off before he gets started on his jealousy theory again. Not to mention Ryan is enjoying this a little too much for my taste.

"What have you found, Ryan?"

"We got an ID on the kid: Jeremy Woods, 10 years old. The Mother called last night to report him missing around 10pm when he didn't come home."

"Is she on her way over now?"

"Yeah, she should be here in 20 minutes. Esposito just got off the phone with her."

"Who was the officer that responded to the call?"

"Johnson."

"Thanks!"

While waiting for Jeremy's mother to arrive I went to have a chat with Officer Johnson to find out exactly why we didn't take this more seriously. Castle wanted to get the 411 on the graveyard worker so he went to find Esposito who had questioned him. I approach Officer Johnson's desk to find him playing solitaire on the computer, outrage isn't enough to describe what I feel upon witnessing the lack of disposition.

"Is this what you do when you're not busy?"

"Kate, I mean Detective Beckett, I was just…"

"Busy playing solitaire, I noticed. Is this why you decided not to take last night's phone call seriously?

"What phone call?"

"So, you mean to tell me you don't even remember a mother calling to report her 10 year old son missing last night?"

"Oh, you mean that call…right. He hadn't been missing for 24 hours. I told her, if he didn't show up by this morning she could come in and file a missing persons report."

"Are you even listening to what you're saying? You told a distraught mother whose 10 year old son hadn't come home by 10pm to come back again in the morning? Tell me, Officer Johnson, what exactly were you doing that you couldn't bring yourself to alert the officers out in the field? Oh I know, you were too busy playing solitaire. Well I hope you at least beat the game because, guess what? We found the body of the missing child you could have helped save. Consider yourself on probation for neglecting to do your job."

"You don't have the power to do that…right?"

"You're right; I don't, but guess what? Montgomery does and I'm sure he's not going to be too pleased that one of his officers would rather sit at his desk and play computer games all day instead of actually doing your job."

I can feel myself reaching a boiling point. I have to walk away before I allow myself to completely unleash. This case is already getting to me and it's barely started. I reach my desk and Castle is sitting in my seat. One glare in his direction and he quickly jumps up from my chair. I take my seat and before Castle has a chance to open his mouth, I stop him.

"Don't, just don't."

"I wasn't even going to say anything."

"I'm sure you weren't."

* * *

The minute Alice Woods walks into the station I can already tell she is Jeremy Woods' mother. Her blond hair and angelic face are an exact replica of Jeremy's. If it wasn't for her somber expression and sluggish walk, she could pass for a model. Castle gets up from his chair. He hates this part and unlike me, he has the choice to walk away and not have to deal with this.

"I'm going to grab a cup of coffee, do you need anything?"

"No thank you, I'm good."

I give him a quick smile to assure him I understand how he doesn't want to be present for this. Ms. Woods is finally standing before me.

"Hi, I'm Detective Kate Beckett. You must be Alice Woods?"

"Yes, they told me you found my son. Is he..? He's dead, isn't he?"

How do you tell a woman her 10 year old son is dead and gone? How she will never get to see him laugh or smile again? How? There's no easy way. Nothing about this life is easy. I wish I could lie to her, but I don't. They say the truth will set you free, but not in this case. In this case, the truth will do nothing more than trap this woman in her own personal hell hole.

"Yes Ms. Woods, your son Jeremy is dead. I'm sorry."

She does what any mother in her case would do. She cries…

"I knew it! I knew when he didn't come home last night something horrible must have happened. I called the police but they refused to do anything about it because he was only missing for 5 hours and they said I had to wait 24 hours…why? Who would do this?"

"Ms. Woods, we're still trying to find out who did this. Your son was found at St. Claires cemetery, a few blocks from your home. We think that the killer might have left this behind." I pull out the evidence bag with the watch we had found on the crime scene.

"That's…how? Where…?" She looks at me dumbfounded.

"Ms. Woods…"

"That's Jonathan Niles' watch."

"Who's Jonathan Niles?" I ask as I quickly write down the name.

"Jeremy's father!"


End file.
